ANIMAFEST SCANNER IX | SYMPOSIUM FOR CONTEMPORARY ANIMATION STUDIES | PANEL 2 THE STATE OF CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN ANIMATION AND ITS FUTURE

Artificial Intelligence and the Crisis of Cinematographic Naturalism: From Copying Reality to Translating Reality - A Critical Approach. - Georges Sifianos (Professor emeritus, ENSAD, PSL Research group, SACRe (EA 7410), Paris, France)

PANEL 2 THE STATE OF CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN ANIMATION AND ITS FUTURE
TEATAR &TD
07/06 TUE 15:50-16:20

Among the changes we observe in the field of animation in Europe and World, there are some that are highly visible and others that are less, that is, we only notice over time. I believe we are experiencing one of those inconspicuous changes that will, however, radically transform the audiovisual landscape in the decades to come. The nature of the cinema is changing. From the era of a cinema “copying” reality, we are moving towards one of ‘translating’ reality. The catalyst for this transformation is the emergence of Artificial Intelligence with its many applications, starting with the “Deep Fake”, that is, a technology that shakes what constitutes the very foundation of cinema: its supposed objective testimony through photorealism. However, if the cinema loses its value as a copy of reality, this loss will lead it inevitably towards its rival brother, animation cinema. In other words, it will become a cinema that does not seek to conceal its nature as an artefact, but on the contrary claim it. Either through image or through movement, animated cinema manifests its subjective nature; it asserts itself as an artefact. By observing this process in this pioneering period, we can also identify misunderstandings and wrong directions in this evolution. By doing so, we can see better and ideally intervene in this process while in progress. In this presentation, I will consider a few characteristic examples.

Georges Sifianos, born in Greece, holds a PhD in animation aesthetics from Sorbonne. He is a filmmaker and professor emeritus, founder of the ENSAD’s Department of Animation Studies in Paris. He has lectured in universities in Europe, India, Korea, Japan and China, among others. Member of PSL Research group, SACRe (EA 7410), he is interested in the renewal of forms of animation cinema, particularly from the point of view of cognitive science. In his recent research, he focuses on animation forms found on the Parthenon’s frieze. His Aesthetics of Animated Cinema, received the Norman McLaren – Evelyn Lambart Awardfor the Best Academic Book in 2014 by the Society for Animation Studies and the Hemingway Grant in 2015. He made animation films Smile, Scent of City, Tutu, Ego, The Blind Writer, and a documentary feature film Petrochemicals, the Cathedrals of the Desert.